A Thing of Beauty
by The Fifth Dimension
Summary: A series of hurtful remarks leave Charlotte feeling less-than-confident about herself. It's up to Becky to show her what the true meaning of 'beauty' really is.


**Author's Note: I have a confession to make. I... I pair someone with Becky who ISN'T Sasha. I feel so dirty! But in all seriousness, I actually adore Becky and Charlotte together, for reasons I couldn't tell you :p This story might hit the "too real" side of fiction, but I loved writing. Hope you like!**

* * *

 _ **A Thing of Beauty**_

* * *

Rush hour. That would be the theme for this whole day, Becky thought to herself. Taking a quick peek through her window, the lass-kicker wanted nothing more than to sink into the driver's seat. Vehicle after vehicle lined the busy streets, progress screeching to a violent halt as soon as the hour struck 'five.' Whose idea it was to rent a car in New York City, Becky couldn't remember, but it was a horrible idea. She gripped the wheel with all of her might, taking out her frustration in the only way she could at the moment.

"Would you lighten up? We're only a few minutes away from the restaurant." Charlotte, who was previously nose-deep in her phone, sat to Becky's right, slightly less frustrated than her girlfriend. Although, she thought, had she been behind the wheel, she figured her patience with other drivers would be tried just as hard.

"I don't want to spend our one weekend off together in three months stuck in traffic," Becky huffed in disappointment. "This was a dumb idea."

"You were the one who suggested it, subway hater."

Becky face-palmed, knowing full well that it sounded like something she would suggest. "Well if parents would watch their kids, it wouldn't even be an issue! Would it kill 'em to say, 'Don't put gum in a lass' hair, Tommy!' every now and again?"

Charlotte laughed at the vivid memory earning herself a disapproving glare from Becky. "Oh, come on. We got it out after an hour."

"If by, 'Got it out' you mean, 'Took out a chunk of your hair,' then sure."

"Tell you what. I'll pay for dinner since you volunteered to drive. Sound fair?" She placed a tiny peck on Becky's cheek.

Becky instantly beamed at the sensation, placing a hand over her chest, the other grasping Charlotte's arm. "Oh, sweet Charlotte. And so close to Valentine's Day too! You truly know the way to a maiden's heart!"

"Don't get used to it, drama queen."

The conversation seemed to die out after Becky's stunning display of acting prowess, forcing the woman in question to shift her focus back to the predicament before her. Traffic seemed to be inching its way forward - slowly, ever-so-slowly. With any luck, the duo would arrive at their destination before it became too dark outside. Despite prior warnings from Charlotte, Becky was ill-equipped for the nighttime air, only a thin jacket to protect her.

She drummed her fingers against the wheel to the rhythm of her own theme music in a vain attempt to keep herself occupied. With her head constantly lulling to the side, it was a struggle to remain awake. Becky decided to check what her girlfriend was up to, wondering if she'd lost her to The Sandman. To her surprise, Charlotte was wide awake, amusing herself with her phone. "Some say if you stare into your phone for too long, it'll suck you into the demon world."

"Sounds like some cheesy, Syfy horror movie," Charlotte stated, her gaze firmly locked onto her screen.

"Actually it is." Becky waited for Charlotte to continue the conversation, but it was clear that wasn't going to be the case. Charlotte began to giggle to herself, piquing Becky's curiosity. "What'cha laughing at there, darlin'?"

"Oh." Charlotte scrolled any which way a few times before passing the phone off to Becky. "I uploaded a few of our selfies to Instagram. I got bored, so I started reading through a bunch of the comments."

With Charlotte's blessing, Becky scrolled through them, reading aloud any that she found interesting, and there were plenty. "'Becky's smile could warm a polar bear's heart.' Aww, that's so sweet!"

"Right? There's a lot of them like that. You're quite the popular lady, Ms. Lynch."

"Well shucks! People are good with the flattery, aren't they?" She turned her attention to another picture - it showcased Becky eating a hamburger, trying to fit as much of it as possible in her mouth. "Dare I read the comments for this elegant piece of imagery?"

"Let me see that." Charlotte took one look at the picture, before immediately shaking her head. "No, definitely don't read those. They're a bit colorful."

"I'm sure that's putting it mildly." The orange-haired woman continued her journey through Charlotte's portfolio of pictures. She smiled as she came across those that featured the two of them doing all sorts of wacky things. It warmed her heart to know that the blonde liked sharing their fondest memories with others; she'd have to give her a big hug for that later. Thumbing the screen, she clicked on a picture of Charlotte, her makeup done and her championship belt draped over her shoulder. The sight made Becky's chest beat rapidly - Charlotte was beautiful, and pictures like this only drove the point home. Upon further inspection of the picture, she realized that this was a selfie taken from the inside of this car, uploaded only a few short minutes ago. "Kept yourself busy while I was losing my mind, I see."

"Huh?" Becky held the phone Charlotte's face, the latter shrugging her shoulders in response. "We weren't exactly moving at a blistering pace."

"Fair enough. I could look at pictures of you all day anyway." Charlotte said nothing, merely turning her head away to hide her blush.

Refreshing the page, Becky was eager to see the comments; maybe she could steal a clever line or two and repeat them to her partner later at dinner. The thought made Becky giddy with excitement. The comments loaded seconds later, and she wasted no time in sweeping through them, looking for the most charming she could find.

To her horror, she found no such comments.

Nearly every comment had something less than flattering to say about Charlotte's appearance, a large chunk of them hurling unnecessary insults at the woman. Becky was overcome with so much emotion all at once - anger, rage, sadness - and couldn't understand why people would say such terrible things about her, or anyone. What gave them the right to criticize someone's appearance so harshly? She wanted to give each and every one of them a piece of her mind.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. If Charlotte saw her losing her cool, she'd have to explain why. Becky didn't want to subject her to this type of verbal abuse from strangers on the internet.

Unfortunately for her, however, Charlotte took notice of the shift in Becky's behavior. "What's up?"

"Up? Uh… The sky."

Charlotte was very aware of Becky's tendency to make jokes during tense situations. Skeptical, the Divas Champion stared intently at Becky, waiting for her to give it away. She caught Becky glancing to and fro between her and the phone. "Give me."

"Charlotte, I don't th-"

The phone was properly snatched out of her hand before she could finish her sentence. She could visibly see Charlotte mouthing the words as she read, hoping that she didn't come across any of the more unpleasant ones. Noting the expression on Charlotte's face, it was evident that she didn't avoid them in the slightest. Becky reached her hand out, aiming to retrieve the phone once again.

"Here, just let me g-" Her hand was swatted away by Charlotte, who kept reading, this time aloud.

"'Charlotte must get her looks from her father, lol'? What the hell is this?"

"It's a stupid kid. Don't pay it any mind."

"There's tons of them! 'I thought the Divas Champion was supposed to be a woman.' Seriously?"

Becky bit her bottom lip, feeling a bit guilty that she opened the picture in the first place. She wondered if other pictures of Charlotte had similar remarks; she wondered if Charlotte ever bothered reading said remarks before today. Great, now she felt twice as guilty. Her train of thought was interrupted by another comment read from Charlotte.

"'Her father has so much money. He should pay for her facial reconstruction surgery.' Get a life, loser."

Though she tried to play it off as no big deal, Becky could see that the words clearly had some sort of affect on her. Her eyes twitched, as if she was trying to hold back tears. Becky took hold of Charlotte's hand, wrapping her fingers in Charlotte's more slender ones. "Don't worry about what people say on the internet, okay? They're idiots - probably go around insulting people as a hobby. Look," Becky used her free hand to point to the road ahead. "Traffic's lightening up. We'll eat, have some laughs. Then you get to lie next to the loveliest lass ever. That sounds good, right?"

To Becky's relief, Charlotte gave her a - albeit weak - smile and nodded her head in agreement.

The rest of the ride was silent.

* * *

Becky didn't know exactly how much she hated waiting until today. First traffic, and now their meals were taking an eternity to finish. It's not that she was an impatient woman, but after spending nearly three hours in a car, the waiting game was getting old. It was taking so long that she was starting to forget what she ordered. Charlotte would remember, probably; she was way better with these things then she was.

She twirled her straw around in her empty cup, before bringing it to her lips. The sound of the suction against the bottom of the glass entertained her slightly. The fact that she was actually being entertained by something a five-year-old would do to annoy their parents spoke volumes to Becky about her state of mind right now. She was losing it.

She looked across the table to see if her girlfriend was also in the same predicament. She hadn't spoken much since the fiasco in the car, but Becky was confident in Charlotte's ability to bounce back. "If I eat your belt, will I be the new Divas Champion by default?" Again, Charlotte was intently focused on her phone. "Oi. I'm going to drop that thing in the toilet."

Charlotte looked up at the sound of Becky's voice. "Did you say something?"

Becky rubbed the bridge of her nose, her patience wearing thin in more ways than one. She took it all back - rush hour was being replaced as 'theme of the day' by patience, the worst of all virtues. "We're supposed to be having dinner _together_. And by 'we,' I don't mean you, me, and your phone."

"Becky, I'm sorry. I…" Charlotte paused, unsure of how to go about saying what was on her mind. "I promise I'll be more talkative when the food gets here. Well, if it gets here."

"Please don't say such a thing!" Becky's pouting grabbed Charlotte's attention for another brief period - a gentle caress of her hand - before turning her attention to what was slowly becoming Becky's mortal enemy and blood rival for Charlotte's love. "Okay, what are you looking at that's got you so bent outta shape?"

"Instagram."

"Still? Charlotte, you have to let it go. Listen to Elsa."

"Ew, I hate that movie."

At least Charlotte was acknowledging her existence, which was a step in the right direction. It wouldn't last, however, as she read another comment. "'The Vaudevillains should take manliness lessons from Charlotte?!' Fuck you."

"Charlotte."

"Okay! Okay. I'm putting it back in the purse, see?" She brought her hands above the table, emphasizing that they were, indeed, empty. "Maybe some food will get my mind off of this nonsense."

"Does someone need a kiss?"

"Hey, I'm paying for the food - I say when you can kiss me." Charlotte flashed a playful wink in Becky's direction, causing the Irish woman's face to heat up uncontrollably.

"Yeesh, someone's feisty today!"

The rest of their evening went exactly as Becky had hoped - a nice, relaxing dinner, followed by a night of intense cuddling and movie-watching. Charlotte never once picked up her phone, instead treasuring each and every fleeting second spent with Becky Lynch. Their weekend away from wrestling truly did wonders for their bodies, and their relationship. With their time off coming to a close, Becky was delighted to see that the selfie fiasco was behind them.

Though, she never was good at these sorts of things.

* * *

The first Monday back to work was always the most brutal. She loved being on the road, getting to perform in front of new faces nearly every day, but Becky did miss the quiet comfort of being with Charlotte. They were together at work, sure, and on the road between towns, but nothing could compare to just spending quality time alone - enjoying each other's company without being completely exhausted from throwing their bodies around a mat for a living.

Still, there would be plenty of opportunities for that in the future. Right now, she had to find Charlotte. With both of their matches now over, they would have to leave for their hotel rather quickly if they wanted to get a good night's rest. Suddenly, a mass of red attacked her vision, and nearly knocked her over. "Sorry, I was in a hurry."

"No, that's totally my bad," Eva Marie stated. After noticing that the person she bumped into was Becky, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree - or maybe like a spark of electricity? Becky needed to work on her similes. "Hey, I've been looking for you!"

"You have?" This was a surprise to her, as she and Eva have had barely any interaction at all. While Becky was in NXT, Eva was on RAW, and vice versa. She was almost shocked that Eva remembered her at all.

"I was looking for Charlotte, actually. But you'll do."

Of course.

"What's my consolation prize?"

"A message for Charlotte." Eva Marie walked over to Becky, handing her a white card with nothing but a number on it. "She's not answering her phone, so give this to her."

"Is there something going on between you two that I should be aware of?" Becky asked, half-jokingly, but half in actual worry. She didn't know Eva - who knows what kind of person she is?

Eva laughed Becky's worries off. "This is the number of my plastic surgeon." Seeing the bewildered expression on the face of Becky, Eva felt like she should explain. "She said she wanted to change a few things. She… didn't tell you?"

"No." Becky was peeved; just what the hell was Charlotte thinking? If she was still feeling self-conscious after all this time, why didn't she talk to her about it? When did she even have time to talk to _Eva_? Becky had so many questions, ones that she desperately needed to ask Charlotte.

"Ouch. Well, tell her I said to call me when she's done with it. Bye."

By 'it,' Becky could only assume the surgery. When she was sure that Eva was out of eyesight, Becky ripped the small piece of paper, tossing the leftover bits into a nearby trash bin. She needed to speak to Charlotte.

* * *

Charlotte felt awful, and not just because of her match: a losing effort against Sasha Banks. Her mind was too preoccupied on other things to focus on Sasha at all, causing her to tap out to the Bank Statement in what she was sure was record time. Ever since the Insane Instagram Incident of 2016 - a title coined by Becky, alliteration always her strong suit - Charlotte hadn't uploaded another picture. She didn't know how terrible she looked until she examined the pictures for herself.

Which is why she called Eva Marie the day prior while Becky slept. Although Eva liked to keep the story a secret of sorts, Charlotte was very aware of Eva's past plastic surgery. It was a simple nose job, but it did wonders for Eva; maybe something along those lines could help her as well. She didn't understand how Becky put up with it for so long, wondering if perhaps her girlfriend had known she looked so disgusting, and only complimented her to make her feel better.

On cue, Becky made her way into the locker room, stopping Charlotte in the middle of her bag packing. "We need to talk." Becky sounded out of breath.

"You running marathons after matches now?"

"Yeah, looking for you!"

"And the locker room wasn't your first guess?"

"That's uh... not important. What _is_ important is the fact that you've been talking to Eva!" Becky couldn't hide the frustration laden in her voice. "Plastic surgery, Charlotte? Are you crazy?"

"You don't get it."

"Don't get what? You're letting these people get into your head."

"Maybe...!" Charlotte tried to quiet herself, but couldn't refrain from yelling. "Maybe they have a point!"

"That's not true. You can't honestly believe that," Becky stated. She couldn't understand why Charlotte was so obsessed with this. Had she always been this insecure about the way she looked? She had no shame in showing off her body; she was muscular, athletic, a natural fitness model if Becky had ever seen one.

"This isn't the first time I've been told things like that. This is exactly how it was growing up - getting told by kids at school that you have the same face as your father? It sucks. And now all of these people are saying the same. What am I supposed to think?"

That makes a lot more sense, Becky thought. If Charlotte had been teased about her appearance growing up, it's no wonder she'd be insecure even as an adult. "That they're wrong? That they're morons? Charlotte, you're gorgeous."

"You're just saying that."

"I'm not! You really think I'd lie to you?" Charlotte looked away, her eyes fixated on the carpeted floor of the locker room. Becky sighed, but she wasn't out of ideas yet. "You know, you're not the only person that gets made fun of online. Your dearest girlfriend has her fair share of mean comments thrown her way."

Charlotte brought her gaze back to Becky, her eyebrow raised in confusion. "What? There's no way. You're beautiful. I see them say it all the time."

"But they don't say the same about my voice. 'Becky sounds like a frog,' or, 'Why does she sound like a middle-aged man with smoker's cough?' It's always the same sort of stuff."

"That's ridiculous." Charlotte couldn't believe that for a second. "I love the sound of your voice."

Becky smiled widely at the compliment. "And I appreciate that you think so, love. Not everyone shares that opinion though. Whether they're saying it to be funny or mean or… whatever, I don't know. It doesn't matter. It hurts, but I don't let it get to me."

"How?"

"By ignoring it, focusing on the good."

"That's easier said than done."

Without any sort of warning, Becky reached for her own phone, fishing it out of her pocket. She opened Charlotte's Instagram account, locating the picture that Charlotte had uploaded over the weekend. Once she found what she was looking for, she motioned for Charlotte to come over to her side and read.

"No. I'm not looking at that again."

"Fine, then I'll read." Charlotte crossed her arms in disagreement, but Becky went on. "'Charlotte looks amazing! I love her so much! She's my inspiration!'"

The champion's ears perked up once she processed what Becky was saying. "Did someone actually write that?" Charlotte, now following Becky's previous order, walked over to her girlfriend's side to read the comment for herself. "That's… really nice."

"There's more like it. Look at this one," Becky said, pointing at the screen of her phone. "'I used get bullied in school for being overweight, but Charlotte has helped me become more confident. I hope she knows how many girls she's helped.' See, positive vibes. What'd I tell ya?"

"Wow. I didn't think people looked up to me like that."

"Of course they do!" Becky grabbed Charlotte by the hand, leading her over to a nearby seat. Once they were seated, she looked at Charlotte - she never once let go of her hand. "Let's say you get this surgery, right, but then people still call you names. Then what do you do? No matter what, people are always going to say terrible things about you, about me, about everyone. I'm sure John Cena even has people calling him a sissy!"

"Sissy, Becks?"

"Hush. You have to realize that even though there are some people that are always going to hate everything about you, there are also just as many people - hell, maybe even more! - that think you're gorgeous. You want to know which category I'm in?"

Charlotte's body shook as Becky traced her neck with a series of gentle kisses, her skin the perfect pathway for Becky's lips to cross. "I can take a guess." She made no move to stop Becky's show of affection, embracing every second of her loving touch. "I love you so much. Thank you."

"I am pretty skilled at this, aren't I?"

"You know what I mean, silly."

"I know. You're welcome, gorgeous."

Charlotte knew that she wasn't going to be one-hundred percent confident with her looks, at least not right away, but she had Becky - someone who thought she was gorgeous no matter what she looked like. That was the good thing about beauty: it was in the eye of the beholder, as they say. And as long as she was with Becky, she knew that she'd always feel beautiful.


End file.
